DACC officials downplay mold concerns; others not so sure

By Diana Alba Soular/dalba@lcsun-news.com

Posted:
11/13/2012 07:12:55 PM MST

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New Mexico State University interim President Manuel Pacheco acknowledged some buildings at Dona Ana Community College have a mold issue, including the Main Building, and said the problem is being addressed.

LAS CRUCES — Complaints about possible mold in a Doña Ana Community College central-campus building with an aging, leaky roof prompted officials to carry out special testing last month.

The review by an environmental consultant did turn up some mold in one room of the building, the campus tutoring center, but in relatively low concentrations, said David Shearer, assistant director for New Mexico State University's Environmental Health and Safety office.

Part of the study entailed comparing air samples from throughout the building to the outdoors and to an adjacent building, he said. The levels of spores found in the tutoring center were in "concentrations less than outside," he said, referring to the outdoors.

The problem in the tutoring center stemmed from drywall in the ceiling that's slated for removal, according to Shearer.

The study started around mid-October, and the results were in by Oct. 25, officials said.

Meanwhile, the tutoring center in Room 83 was closed starting Oct. 31, according to a sign on the door. It will reopen in early January. The tutoring services have been moved to a different part of the DACC campus.

Also, the rest of the building, when tested, turned out OK, Shearer said.

"We've not found any mold, even though there's been reports," he said. "That's not to say there's not been some mildew smells."

Indeed, some faculty reported that a prevalent musty stench pervades the building after rainstorms.

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Water pooling happens in some particularly bad places, they said. In other places, water seeps slowly down the walls.

One faculty member, whose identity is being withheld because of concerns about retaliation, said there's a more-serious problem. The person reported getting headaches in the days after a rainstorm or in strong humidity.

"Whenever it gets wet and moist, you can smell it," said the faculty member. "It's like being in the swamp —a fish tank. It's hard to breathe."

The problem isn't bad now because of the dry weather, but it was serious in September, according to the faculty member. After a rainstorm, large fans typically are posted in the building to dry it out, but that's not a sound solution, the faculty member said.

"They're not fixing it," the person said. "They're just cleaning it. ... Things are just swept under the rug around here."

The standard practice for dealing with a leak, Shearer said, is to dry out the area within 24 to 48 hours.

As far as the complaints about health problems go, Shearer said there may be people who are more sensitive to fungal spores than others, akin to how some people are more sensitive to pollen than others. But his office is open to fielding concerns.

In addition to the tutoring center, general education classrooms and a dental clinic are among the rooms located in the area with the leaky roof. It's the southern part of the "Main" building on DACC's central campus.

Glen Haubold, assistant vice president for NMSU Facilities and Services, said the university's board of regents at an Oct. 15 meeting OK'd funding for a roof replacement on the building. The cost is about $550,000.

The repairs could take about eight months to finish, officials said.

Meanwhile, Shearer said ceiling tiles have been replaced in various parts of the building, where there were water stains.

Diana Alba Soular can be reached at (575) 541-5443; follow her on Twitter @AlbaSoular